Image of the USO, via Flickr Commons
So you might think that if Stephen King – the guy who wrote such horror classics like Carrie And Stand – had to trace his ten favorite best books, he would present works Edgar Allan Poe,, HP Lovecraft Or maybe Jrr tolkien – The authors who, like King, have created durable Gothic worlds filled with supernatural events and malicious forces. But you would be wrong. Author J. Peder Zane interviewed dozens of writers about their favorite novels For his 2007 book The first ten: writers choose their favorite books. The list that King submitted in response appears below. When possible, we have added links to the texts that you can read for free online.
1 and 1 The Golden Argosy, the most famous news in the English language – Published by Van Cartmell and Charles Grayson
2 The adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
3 and 3 Satanic verses – Salman Rushdie
4 Mcteague – Frank Norris
5 Mouches Lord – William Golding
6. Dark house – Charles Dickens
7 1984 – George Orwell
8 The raj quartet – Paul Scott
9. Light in August – William Faulkner
10 Blood meridian – Cormac McCarthy
King, it seems, prefers books that explore the basic defects of the human character with frightening stories of fantasy. In other words, he is interested in stories that are really terrifying. Orwell's portrait of a man breaking under pressure from totalitarianism or the parable of William Golding about a group of boys who turn into animals are downright disturbing. Frank Norris's saga about the McTeague lie is not exactly comforting either. And the dark and spectacularly violent masterpiece of McCarthy Blood meridian could make you crawl in the fetal position and cry for humanity. (It was my reaction, anyway.)
The most striking thing about the list, however, is how highly high. All books would be integrated directly into the program of a higher level English University course. On the other hand, David Foster WallaceWhen asked for his top ten, has filled out his list with such crowds of the mass market as The silence of the lambs by Thomas Harris, The sum of all fears by Tom Clancy and, in number two, King Stand.
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Note: a previous version of this article appeared on our site in 2014.
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Jonathan Crow is a writer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles whose work appeared in Yahoo!, The Hollywood Reporter and other publications. You can follow it at @jonccrow. And see your blog VeeptopusWith a lot of photos of vice-president With octopus on the head. The Veeptopus store is here.
At Learnopoly, Finn has championed a mission to deliver unbiased, in-depth reviews of online courses that empower learners to make well-informed decisions. With over a decade of experience in financial services, he has honed his expertise in strategic partnerships and business development, cultivating both a sharp analytical perspective and a collaborative spirit. A lifelong learner, Finn’s commitment to creating a trusted guide for online education was ignited by a frustrating encounter with biased course reviews.